2025 Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize shortlist
Our thanks to everyone who entered and supported the 2025 Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize. This year's judges were Island's poetry editor, Kate Middleton, winner of the 2021 prize for 'The Memory of Water', Amy Crutchfield, and renowned award winning author, John Kinsella. We received close to 500 entries. Each judge read all submissions 'blind', and came to a collective shortlist of twelve poems.
The shortlisted poets/poems (in alphabetical order by surname) are:
Chris Andrews for ‘Whistling Space’
Jonathan Cant for ‘Finding Pan’
Lisa Collyer for ‘The Grape Picker(s)’
Alex Creece for ‘gunk’
Ori Diskett for ‘deadbody’
Julie Janson for ‘My Kaathi Sister’
Jill Jones for ‘How To Draw Tonight’s Water’
Susanne Kennedy for ‘Waiting for Tortillas’
Jeanine Leane for ‘Galing-gu giilang’
Audrey Molloy for ‘Cold Water Swimming in Lyme Regis’
Pip Smith for ‘Neck lines'
Georgina Woods for ‘Augury: sea surface temperature charts'
Kate said of the shortlist 'Choosing these poems was a process of rich discussion and as judges we were delighted to be able to bring together poems written from many different corners of contemporary Australian poetic practice. We looked for poems that displayed lyricism, innovation and the ineffable quality of “lift”. We found in this shortlist exciting poetry attuned to the current moment—its histories, its warnings, and the search for language to transform it'.
The winner and runners-up will be announced in a few weeks. All twelve poems will be published in Island 173, out next month. In the meantime, the 2024 winners are published in issue 170. You can also enjoy reading some of the winners from recent years here.
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